Series: Lee Savino
Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 63295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
I let myself go limp in the guards’ arms. They drop and abandon me to grab their guns, and I’m able to roll away.
More guards form a line to shoot at Darius, and I find the crossbow again. I take cover behind a fallen table, brace against the bow’s recoil, and shoot at them. My aim is off, but it distracts them enough to turn and shoot at me while I duck.
Bear Darius’ form flexes. His body grows impossibly huge. The silver links strain to the breaking point, and he bursts free from the chains.
More guards pour into the hangar.
“Look out,” I shout.
Bear Darius doesn’t need my warning. He’s already rampaging around the room. Gripping the chains used to bind him, he whips them around. He becomes a hurricane of fur and silver chains that blows through the hangar, ripping through guards, knocking over equipment, and splintering stacks of boxes.
In the madness, the guards keep firing, but he keeps coming. The bullets only seem to make him madder. He roars loud enough to shake the building. His pelt is red with his blood, and the blood of his enemies.
Most of the guards have fallen, mowed under by the lethal whirlwind. A few run for the door, and the bear gives chase. There are wet, meaty sounds, and blood sprays. It’s a massacre.
There’s a groan nearby. The big shifter guy, Hannibal, is rousing. I rise with the crossbow, but can’t find any more tranquilizer darts. They’re lost in the chaos.
“Darius,” I shout. “We have to go.”
The bear whirls around. Its golden eyes fix on me, and I feel a ripple of fear. Is Darius there, behind that wild gaze?
“Darius,” I keep my voice low and firm, like I’m talking to Starlight. “It’s me. You’ve done well.” I take a step, and my foot hits a patch of something slick. I keep walking, not daring to look down. “...but it’s time to leave now. We can escape. Together.”
Something grabs my leg, and I yelp, almost losing my balance. Thom has me.
I shake him off, but he hangs on. “Get off me,” I growl.
A huge shadow falls over us both. The bear is right there, growling. The bits of brown fur that aren’t matted with blood bristle.
It rears up on hind paws. Dios, it’s twice as tall as Darius in human form. Goldilocks would shit her pants.
I want to call his name, but my mouth is too dry. I can only stare up at him.
With a giant, blood-encrusted paw, it gently nudges me out of the way. The heat of its body is like a furnace, searing me.
It drops to all fours, shoves its head near Thom’s, and bares its teeth. Its mouth is big enough to swallow Thom’s head whole.
I don’t really want to see the bear eat someone, but I can’t look away. The bear places a paw on Thom’s chest, but doesn’t press down.
Instead, its form morphs until Darius is standing there, human and gloriously naked. His fingers are fisted on Thom’s collar.
“Paloma,” Darius murmurs.
“I’m here.” I make my way to his side. His wounds look worse on bare human skin, but even as I watch, the worst of the gashes and silver burns are closing.
“What do you want to do with him?” Darius asks me. His voice is gravelly.
“I have money,” Thom says in a rush. “I’ll give you anything you want–”
“You don’t have money,” I remind him. “Not anymore.” My boot hits something small and sends it rolling. I stoop and lift the syringe he was going to use to inject me with poison.
I know exactly what I’m going to do with it.
“You kept me prisoner for years,” I say to Thom. “You tried to kill Wren.”
Thom twitches and opens his mouth. Darius’ growl silences him.
“You were going to hunt my shifter friends for sport.”
Darius sees what I’m intending, and rips open Thom’s shirt, baring the old man’s scrawny chest.
I crouch and tell Darius, “Hold him.”
Thom writhes but Darius is too strong and grips the old man, so he can’t budge.
“This is for my parents.” I plunge the needle into Thom’s chest. I don’t know what dosage Thom prepared for me, but I can bet it’s strong. He meant to punish me, weaken me. And he’s had heart issues. “Let's give you a taste of your own medicine.”
Thom’s eyes roll up into his head. He starts thrashing. Darius releases him and lets Thom’s limbs drum on the concrete floor. We both watch as he goes still.
I turn away from the sight of his body, feeling nothing. Thom deserved to die.
“You did it.” Darius wraps his arms around me. I hug him gingerly and pull away.
“You’re bleeding.”
“It’s worse that it looks. It’s not all my blood.”
“We have to get out of here. Can you run?”
“Yes. But you don’t have to. Climb on.” He steps back, and with a whole body shiver turns back into the bear.